

0^aleDtctorp aiilirrss 



OF 



ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr. 



TO THE 



NEW- ENGLAND 




Historic Genealogical Society 



22 June, 1892 



i 



VALEDICTORY ADDRESS 



OF 



ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr. 



4^ 



^aleliictorj ^Dtiress 



OF 



ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr. 



TO THE 



new- england 
Historic Genealogical Society 



22 June, 1892 




1, ) J 



1 1-^ -i )-»• o -) 









BOSTON 
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 

M.DCCC.XCII 



TTM T-T'"'''' 



Sintbrrsitg i^rrss : 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



» • t • 






OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY 

For the Year 1892. 



Prtsttimt. 

ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr., A.M., of Salem, Massachusetts. 

BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD, LL.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, A.M., of Belfast, Maine. 

JOSEPH BURBEEN WALKER, A.M., of Concord, New Hampshire. 

JAMES BARRETT, LL.D., of Rutland, Vermont. 

ELISHA BENJAMIN ANDREWS, D.D., LL.D., of Providence, Rhode Island. 

EDWARD ELBRIDGE SALISBURY, LL.D., of New Haven, Connecticut. 

lEvccorlJintj S^ccretarg. 

GUSTAVUS ARTHUR HILTON, LL.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

Cotregponlimu Sectctarg. 

HENRY HERBERT EDES, of Boston, Massachusetts. 

SEreasurer. 

* 

BENJAMIN BARSTOW TORREY, of Boston, Massachusetts. 

ILibrarian. 

HENRY WINCHESTER CUNNINGHAM, A.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

%])t Council. 

Ex Officiis. 

ABNER C. GOODELL, Jr., A.M. BENJAMIN A. GOULD, LL.D. 

G. ARTHUR HILTON, LL.B. HENRY H. EDES. 

BENJAMIN B. TORREY. HENRY W. CUNNINGHAM, A.B. 

Term Expires 1893. 

GRENVILLE HOWLAND NORCROSS, LL.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
HENRY PICKERING WALCOTT, M.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
EZRA HOYT BYINGTON, D.D., of Worcester, Massachusetts. 

Term Expires 1894. 

WILLIAM CLAFLIN, LL.D., of Newton, Massachusetts. 
JOHN TYLER HASSAM, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
HENRY WILLIAMS, A.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

Term Expires, 1895. 

ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY, DD., LL.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
HAMILTON ANDREWS HILL, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
BENJAMIN GREENE SMITH, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



OFFICERS 

APPOINTED BY THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1892. 



HAMILTON ANDREWS HILL, A.M Boston, Massachusetts. 

lEtiitor of IJxibltcations. 

JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M Medford, Massachusetts. 



LIST OF THE GENTLEMEN WHO RETIRED FROM OFFICE 

22 JUNE, 1892. 

Abner C. Goodell, Jr., A.M President. 

Benjamin Apthorp Gould, LL.D Vice-Presidettt. 

G. Arthur Hilton, LL.B Recording Secretary. 

Henry H. Edes CorresJ^cmdifig Secretary. 

Henry W. Cunningham, A.B Librarian. 

Andrew P. Peabody, D.D., LL.D. \ 
Hamilton Andrews Hill, A.M. 



Benjamin G. Smith 



N Cojtncillors. 



Henry Williams, A.B. '' 

Grenville H. Norcross, LL.B. 
Henry Pickering Walcott, M.D. V 

Mr. Hamilton Andrews Hill retired also from the office of Historiog- 
rapher on the first of July, following. 



THE 



PEESIDENT'S VALEDICTORY. 



Gentlemen : 

It will doubtless meet your expectations as well as 
accord with the wishes of the Council, if, on behalf of 
the retiring administration, I improve this occasion to 
briefly render an account of our stewardship. 

The system of management of the affairs of our By-Laws 

. . , T J. proposed by 

Society which went into operation on the second aay ot the present 
January, 1889, was so generally beheved to be an im- f^Z'S- 
provement upon the previous system that it was adopted "^^.^'^'Jj ^P' 
without dissent. By a provision of the old By-Laws, or 
Constitution, as some of those rules were called, all who 
had served seven years on the Board of Directors Permanen- 

^. ,. -.-n mi • • • cy of the 

became ipso facto Directors for Ufe. This provision was ^^^ Board of 
found by experience to be objectionable in two respects ; ^^'j^^g 
first, in that it constantly diminished the relative influ- ^JJ.^jJlon.'^^ 
ence of newly-elected directors; and second, in that it able, 
kept the control of the administration in the hands of 
persons whose active interest in the Society declined 
with increasing years. Hence, practically, under that 
system it was found on the one hand that the relations 
between the main body of the Society and those who 
administered its affairs were growing more distant, inso- 
much that reform was almost hopeless, and on the other 
hand, by the easy sufferance of the Board of Directors 
the whole management had drifted into a few hands so 



8 



The rule 
changed by 
tlie new 
By-Laws. 

Three-fifths 
of the Coun- 
cil changed 
every year. 



Annual 
reports of 
the Council. 

President 
lays before 
the new ad- 
ministration 
a statement 
of its finan- 
ces, and of 
the needs of 
the library. 



Difficulty of 
getting at 
tlie facts. 



Further in- 
vestigation 
into tlie do- 
nations re- 
commended. 



Printing 
of the 
President's 
Address to 
tlic Council 
on 14 Janu- 
ary, 188it, 
postponed : 



burdened with routine duties as to be unwilling or 
unable to undertake any considerable work of improve- 
ment. 

As soon as the new By-Laws took effect, all this was 
changed. Of the fifteen Councillors which constitute the 
government as now organized, nine go out of office every 
year unless re-elected, three more go out the nqxt year, 
and the rest at the end of the third year. Thus the 
Society has the power at any Annual Meeting by a change 
of administration to redress any grievance or institute 
any reform, while enough Councillors hold over each 
year to continue the traditions of the Board, to prevent 
the interruption or failure of unfinished business, and to 
protect the Society from the unjust demands of out- 
siders with whom we may have had dealings. 

The doings of the Council have been reported to you 
annually, and hence what I shall now offer in retrospec- 
tion will be but a recapitulation of former statements. 

At the outset of the new departure, I felt it my duty, 
in an Address to the Council, to lay before them a State- 
ment of the condition of the Society respecting its finances 
and the condition of its library and library accommoda- 
tions as well as its future work, with the view of eliciting 
tlie opinion of the Board in regard to the best course to 
pursue. The imperfect condition of the records greatly 
increased the labor of preparing this statement, and not- 
withstanding my search for information outside of the 
records was pressed as far as it could be without indeli- 
cacy, I found it impossible in the time at my command to 
give a complete account of the Donations received by the 
Society. I therefore recommended that the investigation 
be still further prosecuted by a proper committee. This, 
however, was never done, and hence the printing of 
this statement (wliich I had requested might be deferred 
until after its details could be verified by comparison 
with the Committee's report) was not attempted until 
recently. 



9 

As a copy of this Statement, under the title of " Presi- —printed in 
dent's Address to the Council," is in the hands of every '^•^' 
member of the Society, I will not extract from it here 
more than a single passage, which I may be pardoned 
for quoting, since it explains the reason for the policy 
we have adopted of conferring upon Committees a large 
share of the regular work of the Society. On page 33 
you will find the following : — 

"I suggest that a discreet distribution of duties among Distribu- 

several committees would be the best means of effecting this V°!^ 

° duties re- 

work satisfactorily, and at the same time would afford us an commended 

opportunity for enlisting the services of a larger number of 

our members, particularly of the younger men, who I am 

persuaded need only an invitation to become eventually most 

active and valuable agents in promoting the growth and 

increasing the usefulness of the Society." 

It was my good fortune to have all my suggestions to Harmony 

the Council cordially approved, and the work I proposed president 

promptly begun. In accordance with my recommenda- ^"^^'^^1 

tion to the last Board of Directors, some progress had President's 

recommen- 

already been made in clearing out the cellar of the dations ap- 

Society's House, which had long been the receptacle of a regard to 

vast accumulation of books, pamphlets, and newspapers. ^elkJ^o^f the 

The greater portion of these was in boxes, piled from Society's 

<=> ^ ' >■ House : 

floor to ceiling. No account of the contents of these 
packages had been preserved, but presumably they em- 
braced much that was valuable. The stacks being 
separated by narrow passages and standing on waste 
paper and other inflammable rubbish, which littered the 
whole floor nearly to the furnace, consent to have this 
accumulation removed and examined was finally obtained, 
in view of the imminent danger from fire which could 
only be avoided by such a change. 

The new administration were not unwilling to listen —to provide 

room for the 

to a proposal to find within the Society's House the library with- 
accommodation for the library which their predecessors House. 



10 



Preliminary 
question as 
to need of 
furtherroom 
settled by 
taking a 
complete in- 
ventory of 
the Society's 
books, etc. 



All books, 
pamplilets, 
and papers 
thorouglilj^ 
catalogued. 



Useless 

literature 

eliminated. 



Impractica- 
bility of 
keeping 
files of 
newspapers. 



had been looking for in a contemplated extension in the 
rear or by the purchase of an adjoining estate. Before 
deciding on any plan, however, it was thought best to 
know approximately what further accommodation was 
needed. This could only be done by making an invent- 
ory of all our literary collections, from which to cull 
what were undoubtedly worth preserving, and thus to 
ascertain what proportion, if any, should be eliminated 
as not germane to the purposes of the Society. This 
work was most faithfully and thoroughly accomplished, 
and I have heard of no adverse criticism on it, save 
the suggestion that as every piece of paper not a more 
waste fragment was duly catalogued, more expense 
had been incurred than was necessary. But since the 
total outlay for this work, continued through more than 
twenty months, was comparatively small, and since the 
catalogues will forever conclusively remove all doubt 
as to the wisdom of parting with the literature dis- 
posed of, I am sure the expense will never be grudged, 
especially as there was no further payment on account 
of managing the library, — the Library Committee, which 
serves gratuitously, having had charge of the library 
during the whole time. 

In deciding where to draw the line of exclusion of 
useless literature, most of the material was so obviously 
unsuitable for the Society's use that there were but two 
questions particularly embarrassing ; one concerning the 
newspapers and the other the periodicals. Of the 
former, our collection embraced 1414 different titles, 
comprising 186 lx)und and 683 unbound series, more or 
less com|)lete. The project of perfecting these files 
could not be entertained for a moment. The cost of 
collecting and binding would exceed our whole income, 
and if completed, the 1414 sets could not be stored in 
our Iniilding without excluding everything else. It was, 
therefore, deemed best to retain past and present files 
of but two current daily ncwspai)crs besides the files of 



11 

papers the publication of which began before the year 
1800. At the same time a plan was adopted of preserv- 
ing for ready reference, by cutting out, pasting in 
scrap-books and indexing, all biographies and obituary 
notices, historical articles and publications of mar- 
riages and deaths, in one at least of the current 
newspapers. 

Of the periodical pamphlets, there were but two con- North Am- 
cerning the exclusion of which there was any hesitation. v[ew"and 
These were the "North American Review" and the "Chris- Christian 

Lxaminer, 

tian Examiner." Both sets were incomplete and had tiie only 

serials ex- 
been rarely referred to. Indeed, the latter, which was eluded. The 

Soci6tv's 

the gift of our honored associate, Mr. William B. Trask, gets incom- 
had never been unpacked. The committee charged with ^orks bulky 
the sale and exchange of books, therefore, seeing that the ^^^, can be 

' ' o replaced at 

"Review" comprised over four hundred numbers, and the any time, if 

rGQuircd. 

" Examiner " between eighty and ninety volumes, decided 
that the shelf-room occupied by them was more valuable 
to us than the books, and so both of the sets were dis- 
posed of. The "Examiner," after having been completed, 
was eventually returned to the donor, and the " Review " 
was sold at a price at which — or a little more probably — 
it can be replaced by another set, if desired. In dis- 
posing of all other literature, a liberal course was 
pursued, the aim being to place it gratuitously where it 
would be useful in completing imperfect sets in other 
libraries, especially those most easily accessible to the 
members of the Society, or to exchange it for books 
useful to us. 

When our collections had been thus sifted, there ap- Result of 
peared no necessity of enlarging our Building for some books": room 
years at least, provided the walls could be so strength- ^j"g"^^/°'' 
ened as to bear the weight of a library upon the upper in our pre- 

'=' r , sent build- 

floor. Upon consulting with expert architects and en- ing. Walls 

gineers it appeared that the strengthening of the north- ed?°^ 

ern wall was desirable, whether the upper hall were to 

be used as a library or only, as heretofore, for the meet- 



12 



Library 
removed to 
third floor. 



Plan for 
fitting the 
second floor 
for our meet- 
ings. Wliy 
this plan 
was not car- 
ried out. 



Small ex- 
pense of the 
changes. 



The Build- 
ing Fund : 
Sliowaltcr 
Investment. 



ings of the Society. Accordingly that work was ordered 
and completed. Four strong buttresses supporting iron 
beams to take the ends of floor joists running through 
the building were erected on independent foundations 
and securely tied to the walls. The gallery supports 
were also strengthened. During the progress of this 
work, the plan of removing the library to the upper 
hall was developed, approved by the Council, and soon 
afterward completed. The objection of possible want of 
light and ventilation had already been met by the build- 
ing of the new skylight which replaced the insufficient 
opening in the roof that had been so long a source of 
trouble and expense from its imperfect construction and 
leaky condition. 

A plan for fitting up the old library room on the 
second floor conveniently for the meetings of the Society 
had long been discussed, and estimates of the cost had 
been obtained ; but owing to the causes which eventu- 
ally compelled the resignation of a majority of the 
Council, that work has not been prosecuted. The shelf- 
room of this lower hall, however, was estimated to be 
sufficient to relieve the library proper of all books only 
occasionally referred to, and thus to make room for such 
accessions as the library would ordinarily receive during 
the next ten years. 

I close this brief sketch by the statement, which can- 
not fail to interest you, that the expense of all these 
changes, including the cataloguing of books, pamphlets, 
and newspapers, which has been deemed properly charge- 
able to the Building Fund (since this work is necessarily 
incident to the particular object for which that fund was 
raised), has reduced the principal only $3,924.01, — 
leaving unexpended the sum of $21,006.38. 

The Building Fund, as transmitted to the present 
administration by the former Board of Directors, was 
chiefly invested in the securities of the Showalter Invest- 
ment Company. The unfortunate failure of that com- 



13 

pany to make good its promises is known to you all, and Present 

status or 

therefore I am sure you will be pleased to learn that, of our invest- 
the $10,000 in mortgages negotiated to us but not guar- compl"ny!'''* 
anteed by the Company, $5,960 have already been recov- 
ered in actual cash, and $900 more is sure to be paid to 
us next September. We have also obtained a perfect 
title to land mortgaged to us for $465, and have begun 
to foreclose two other mortgages amounting to $1,825. 
The only loss on these securities, actually ascertained 
thus far, besides the unpaid interest, is $450, caused by 
selling for $1,200 cash a mortgage of the nominal value 
of $1,600, and paying $50 more as commission for the 
transaction. This certainly is not discouraging. 

All our other Funds have steadily increased under the ah other 
management of the Council. The respective amounts fncreased.^ 
of these Funds as they stood when I was first called to 
this Chair, and as they footed up at the end of the last 
fiscal year, are as follows : — 

Jan. 1887. Jan. 1892. 

Towne Memorial Fund .... |3,963.28 .... |5,417.47 

Barstow Fund 988.62 .... 1,200.00 

Life Membership Fund .... 11,217.74 .... 12,717.74 

Bond Fund 859.46 .... 1,078.47 

Of the first of these Funds it is only fair to remark, 
however, that the increase is due to accumulation of 
income during a suspension of the publication of our 
Memorial Biographies. This was the result of an effort 
to restore the principal of the Fund, which had been 
improvidently encroached upon before it came under our 
management. Of the last, or Bond, Fund it is equally 
fair to add that it has been virtually many times multi- 
plied by the recovery of the pages believed to have been 
lost. The Society is thus enabled to offer for sale the 
entire edition completed, which at the current price 
should bring not less than $10,000. 

This increase of the Funds just enumerated will be 
made more obvious by a statement of the total amount 



Total in- 
vestment. 



14 

Total gain, of gain, which is 13,384.58 ; all but about $650 of which 
has accrued since the oi-ganization of the Council. It is 
also a cause of congratulation that at present the amount 
of all our Funds is 877,641.37 as against $68,867.50, the 
amount shown by the General Balance-sheet of Dccem- 

Gain since ^er 31, 1888, immediately before the present administra- 

^^^^" tion came into power. This gain of $8,773.87, it should 

be I'emembered, is over and above the sum expended upon 

\ „„„ . the Society's House and lii^rary. From the foundation of 

Average an- •' •' 

nuai in- the Socicty to the decease of President Wilder, the average 

crease of _ ° 

our funds; annual increase of our funds was $2,586.20. It is there- 
rate during forc a circumstaucc which should cause no regret, either 
year'r^^ ^^^ °" ^^^^ P^^'^ ^^ ^^^^ retiring administration or of the 
members of the Society, tliat under the new regime the 
average has grown to $3,142.86, which is 18 per cent 
more than the previous rate. 
Legacies re- The legacies, which during the last three and a lialf 

ceived by . 

tiie Society years have either reached the treasury or become certain 
present by the final probate of the will of the testator, amount to 

administra- .c^n^QOO. This is exclusive of the legacy of $10,000 from 

the late Mrs. William Sumner Appleton. 
Rolls of There is another subiect, the presentation of wdiich 

Menibersliip ■' ^ 

completed; I have reserved for the close of the summary of the 

work ac- doings of the retiring administration. I refer to the 

wiu/'^'reat'^ actual and fitting conclusion of their labors, — the prepa- 

pains. Tiie ^-atiou and publication of the Rolls of Membership. In 

need of an ' ^ 

accurate list the preface of this admirable work you will find a his- 
tory of the undertaking and some account of tlie difficul- 
ties which the Committee on the Rolls encountered in 
their task. I feel it my duty, in justice to the Council 
and in gratitude to those who have had the work in 
charge, to impress upon you my own conviction that had 
it been postponed and left to other hands, the Society 
might never have been able to identify many of its mem- 
bers. Ihit now, through the indefatigable industry of 
Messrs. George Kuhn Clarke, Ilcnry Herbert Edcs, and 
Francis Henry Hrown, we have i)rintcd Rolls of Mem- 



15 

bers and Officers, if not perfect, as nearly so, I believe, 
as it is practicable to make them ; and in method of 
arrangement and of reference and style of execution they 
present a model of excellence. 

My task is accomplished. It is not for me to advise Conclusion, 
as to the future, further than I have done in former com- 
munications to the Society and to the Council. For my 
associates as well as for myself, however, I cannot with- 
hold an expression of good wishes to all the gentlemen 
with whom we have been associated, and of an ardent 
hope that the objects for the promotion of which our 
Society was founded may be steadfastly pursued through 
all changes and vicissitudes, as the guiding star of our 
endeavor. And further, I cannot resist the impulse to 
adopt as a reflection which may conduce to the realiza- 
tion of this hope, and as the final sentence of this fare- 
well address, the never inapposite words of Solomon, in 
his eulogy of wisdom : " Her ways are ways of pleasant- 
ness, and all her paths are peace." 



LIBRftRV OF CONGRESS 



013 995 060 4 



